I Look After You
by Tearlit
Summary: Ginny has moved on, leaving Harry behind...or has she?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I own nothing. J.K. Rowling is the owner of all. Except the title, that comes from a song by The Fray.

Ginny sat waiting patiently, spinning her butter beer bottle in a slow circle. A man with untidy black hair suddenly burst through the door, looking rather out of breath, and made his way to her table in the back of the pub.

"Hey, Gin, sorry I'm late."

"It's all right, I'm just glad I got to see you before you left on another assignment."

"I've taken a teaching job at the Auror Training Academy, actually."

"Oh? That's nice," she said. It was then that he noticed her puffy, bloodshot eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie, Gin, you've been crying. What's wrong?"

"Please…let's just catch up, ok? I haven't seen you in forever," she pleaded.

He gave her a look.

"All right, four months then. It seems like forever," she replied.

"I know," he whispered. "So…how are the wedding plans?"

She sighed. "All right I guess. We decided to move the date up to next month and have a much smaller affair. You'll be able to make it, won't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it. So is the wedding what's stressing you?"

"Not exactly."

She fidgeted in her seat.

"Your mum giving you a hard time?" He asked.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No. She wasn't too pleased but she said she's just happy that I finished school and that the war ended first."

He tilted his head to the side. "She doesn't like Seamus does she?"

She stared down at the large solitaire engagement ring on her left hand, spinning it round and round. "No, she always had it in her head I'd marry you."

"Funny, so did I," he replied.

She jerked her head up to look at him. "What?" She asked.

"I know we only dated a few months, but I always thought if I survived the war we might could pick back up where we left off. I guess I was wrong…"

"He doesn't want the baby," she blurted, attempting to change the subject.

"What?" Harry asked.

"He doesn't want the baby," she repeated.

"Is he trying to get you to get rid of it?"

"No, he knows better than to ask me to do that. Though I thought he was going to call off the engagement…."

"And you're marrying him why?" He asked, leaning toward her.

"I love him."

"Do you really?"

She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. "He's the dad," she said quietly.

"No, he's not." Harry replied, voice harsh.

"I think I would know," she said, matching his tone.

"If he doesn't want a child you both created then he isn't a dad, he's a sperm donor." Harry said.

Ginny laughed, a quick, bitter burst of sound. "Well what's done is done, I guess. We're getting married in a month."

He stared at her. "You don't want to."

She met his eyes at last. "It doesn't matter what I want."

"Doesn't it?" he mused.

"No, it doesn't, not anymore."

The spinning ring stopped and she rested her hands on the table.

"When did it stop mattering?" He asked.

"Down by the lake at the end of my fifth year. It didn't matter what I wanted then, and it doesn't matter now."

"It could matter again, if you wanted it to." Harry said.

"I wish I could just pack up and leave. We've been sharing a flat for a while now…I hate it."

"Then do it."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

She shook her head, long hair flying. "I have obligations."

"To whom?"

She flung her hands into the air. "Everyone."

He studied her for a moment. "You don't have to stay trapped."

She sighed, "Yes, I do. I can't raise this baby on my own."

"Then don't. Come marry me."

"What?" She yelled.

"Come marry me."

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked him.

"No." He said.

She leaned back, shaking her head.

"How could you ask me that? We aren't even dating! I'm pregnant with another man's child!"

"Come away with me, then," he said softly.

"But…why?"

"You aren't happy here. I can make you happy," he pleaded.

"You're talking crazy. Things haven't been like that between us in years." She said.

He stared down at the ring, at the constant reminder that she belonged to another man. "Sometimes I hate myself for that. I see your swollen stomach and all I can think is 'I wish it were mine.' Then I hear you say that the father doesn't even want the baby and I get so angry…he's throwing away what I would give anything to have." He whispered. "I love you, Ginny."

"No…you don't…you can't…not anymore." She said, voice faint.

"Oh but I do and I can." He said, his voice rising as he continued. "I wish I had fought for you when I came back. I did ask you out once and you turned me down. Why?"

She bit her bottom lip and her eyes began to shine with tears. "Because I can't stand the thought of losing you if it doesn't work," she whispered. "I lost you once...I couldn't go through that again."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "You wouldn't lose me." He said, voice soft once more.

"Yes, I would." A single tear escaped to spill down her cheek.

"No, you wouldn't, because it'll work."

She pulled her hand back and wiped the tear away. "You can't know that."

"Trust me. Come away with me. I'll take care of you. I'll love you and the baby. I'll treat him or her just like they are mine. If you don't like my house I'll by a new one. I'll help you with the baby and you can be free to do whatever you like. Please, Ginny…just give me a chance."

She shook her head. He acted as if this was the simplest thing in the world. "Harry, I don't know…"

"Do you still love me?"

Silence.

"Here's my new address," he said, handing her a slip of paper. "If you want to, come. I have an extra bedroom you can stay in if you just want to get away from Seamus. Promise me you'll consider it?"

She nodded as he handed her a cloth bag.

"That contains money. There's enough in there to take you wherever you want to go and get you started. Now you have options. If the path you choose doesn't include living with me, keep in touch." He stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, Gin, I love you."

She stared after him as the door closed and whispered, "I love you too."

A/N- Please read and review!!


	2. Whatever It Takes

Disclaimer – I own nothing.

A/N - Please review!

* * *

Harry was sitting in his kitchen clumsily trying to wrap Christmas presents when there came a knock at the door. He looked up at the clock, surprised. Ron was away on a mission and Hermione wasn't due to arrive until that evening. He grabbed his wand up and made his way to the door.

"Who is it?" He said, loudly enough to be heard on the other side.

He heard a muffled voice reply, "It's Ginny."

He opened the door and stared in shock. He hadn't seen her in eight months. She had disappeared only three days after their meeting in the pub. Mrs. Weasley had shown up at his door sobbing holding a roll of parchment from Ginny that stated she had broken off the engagement and gone abroad. She had calmed when he assured her Ginny had enough money that she wouldn't starve. Mrs. Weasley had received an owl each from Bill and Charlie saying Ginny had stopped by for a few days. Ginny herself had owled four months previous when the baby was born to let everyone know they were both fine. That was the last anyone had heard of her until now.

He stepped back and motioned her in, taking a moment to study her as she got herself and the bundle she carried settled in at the table. Her hair was longer than he remembered, falling all the way to her waist now. She still carried some of her post pregnancy weight around her middle, which was more apparent in the jumper she wore than it would be in robes. Overall she looked healthy and had a warm glow about her as she fussed with the baby. He watched as she unwrapped the rather large bundle revealing a rather tiny baby that she held close to her as she conjured a small cradle. She placed it beside the table and motioned him over.

She motioned him over. "This is Ella." She pulled back the blanket from the babies face and held her so Harry could easily see. She looked remarkably like Ginny and he could see wisps of the trademark Weasley hair peaking out from under a pale green cap. "Her full name is Eleanor Cael Weasley."

"Weasley?"

"Well you didn't think I'd give her Seamus' name did you? I went to the Ministry and got the proper forms for him to relinquish rights. He signed them happily," Ginny said, voice only slightly bitter. She stooped and placed the baby in the cradle and set it to rocking. She settled into the chair and Harry placed a cup of tea in front of her. "Thank you," she said softly.

He sat down across from her and she stared at him with an unrecognizable expression on her face. She fingered the pile of presents on the table. "What are these?"

"A cell phone and a digital alarm clock for your dad."

"Oh! Muggle things. He'll like those. And this?" She said, touching a wrapped present.

"A new traveling cloak for your mum. I got green, she looks nice in green."

"And this?"

"A special pack for Ron. It's enchanted so it holds items of an amazing size and weight without becoming full or heavy. It'll be useful on long missions."

"These?" she asked, lightly fingering a rather large present.

"A set of books for Hermione about advanced Charms."

"To help her at school?"

"Yes."

She stopped inquiring about the presents and stared into her mug of tea.

"Why'd you leave for so long?" He blurted out.

"I had to," she replied softly. "I had to prove to myself I could find my own way. I've always been dependent on someone. First my family, then to Seamus…I couldn't move to you next. I had to be dependent on Ginny…just Ginny."

"How'd that go?"

"Oh it went quite well in that respect. I proved to myself that I could make my own way in the world. I went up to Scotland…quite ironic, no? I rented a small cottage in a tiny Wizarding village and got a job as a bar maid in a pub. I made friends with my neighbors and it was all quite lovely." She finished with a smile but Harry could see something wasn't quite right.

"Why'd you come back?"

"Well I don't know if I'm back for good. It's Christmas so I came to see my family."

"I'm not family. Why come here?" he asked accusatorially.

She bit her lip.

"I missed you terribly. Even though I had friends all I wanted…all I wanted was you. All I've ever wanted was you."

"What?" Harry said, seemingly struck dumb.

"I was always so afraid I'd lose you if things didn't work out, but I realized if I don't take that risk I've already lost you. After that day at the pub…I was so afraid you'd grow tired of my indecision and push me away so I took matters into my own hands. Instead of going home to The Burrow I left. I left you before you could push me away. I soon discovered that was quite stupid of me but I was so afraid to come back."

"You shouldn't have been. Did you know I've tried dating other girls? I compare them all to you. I look at them and all I see is how they aren't you and I get so mad at them and at myself. I'm not going to grow tired of you; I'll do anything in my power to make us work. I promise you that."

"I know…I had to go away to see it. It's so lonely up there, Harry. Because there is no you."

"The offer to stay is still open."

"For how long?" Ginny asked.

"For however long you desire." He looked away for a moment and stood. "I'll be right back."

He returned a moment later clutching something in one hand. He knelt in front of her and took her hands. "I love you, Ginny. I've loved you for years. I want to be with you, whatever it takes. Marry me, please." He held out one hand and opened it, revealing a small diamond ring.

"If I say yes can we take this slow?"

"Whatever it takes," he repeated, staring at her intently.

She looked at him a moment, chewing her lip. "Yes…yes I'll marry you." She smiled then and it reached all the way to her eyes. He slipped the ring on her left ring finger. "How long have you had it?" she asked, studying it.

"For a while. It was my mum's. Lupin gave it to me. Apparently Sirius recovered both my parents' rings before he went after Peter. Lupin found them in Sirius' room at Grimmauld Place after he died."

"It's beautiful. I'm honored you would give me your mum's ring, Harry. So I'm engaged…again. We can have a long engagement?"

"As long as you need," he replied.

"And the baby?"

"I'll raise her as if she's my own. She can call me dad if you want her to. I'll even give her my last name if you want her to have it. Whatever you want Ginny, I promise."

"Can we stay? I couldn't bear going back to Scotland now, or to the Burrow."

"Of course you can stay. I have two extra bedrooms. Whichever you like. We can make the other into a nursery or she could stay with you. Let me know what you want and I'll get it or do it or whatever."

"I don't want to be a burden."

"You won't be, Gin."

"Could we go out some? Like…date."

"Of course." He grinned then. "We're engaged."

She grinned back. "So we are."

"I love you, Ginny Weasley."

"And I love you, Harry Potter." She reached across the table and grasped his hand, as he squeezed back they knew that whatever came their way they would be all right because finally they were together, as it should be.


End file.
